When the cart stopped close to the house, Bell and the others climbed out of it and thanked the driver. They had already wished Lefiya, Welf and Mikoto a goodbye for now, since they already went to their homes. A celebration was planned for the evening of the next day, but for now everyone wanted to go home, take a hot shower or bath and change into casual clothes.

As soon as Bell opened the door, he got pulled inside by a strong hand.

"Wha-Mo-!"

His words were stopped when Alfia hugged him strongly to her chest, closing her arms around him. Bell felt that she shivered and sobbed. He looked up to her, every word that he wanted to say died out when he saw her face. Alfia was crying so strong that her face looked completely distorted. She hugged Bell to her chest and sobbed loudly. Bell felt the full power of her level seven body, even as she was weakened by her illness.

"Mom?"

"Never..."

"Mom?"

"Never do that again!"

The others were kind...and smart...enough to stay outside when they heard Alfia´s outburst. Bell had never seen such an expression in Alfia´s face before, he had seen her sad, but never like this.

Her body was shaking so violently that Bell feared she would collapse. Alfia was desperate, completely desperate. When she saw Hyakinthos spring out of the smoke cloud, sword aimed at Bell's chest... and what happened next broke something inside her. She had seen her little boy again, running in front of her through the fields, laughing happily. How he happily played, sat on her lap, bathed with her, slept in a bed, snuggled up on the couch in winter evenings. She saw her son's happy face again when he was a child. And then...

Then Alfia had to watch how her beloved son was impaled by a sword almost killing him. She saw her little boy impaled on a sword. This was too much for her, just as it would have been too much for any mother.

"Never do that again!"

"Mom...I´m sorry..."

The others waited for a five minutes, until they dared to walk slowly into the house. Alfia´s eyes were completely red from crying so much, now it was easy to see that she and Bell were related by blood. Nahza looked a bit embarrassed and awkward when she came inside and moved carefully around Alfia and Bell, who still refused to let her son go. Haruhime was the next, her eyes were also still red. When she and Lefiya had arrived at the top of the tower, witnessing Bell´s deep wound and his blood all over Lily´s clothes, she had screamed and cried.
Haruhime felt very similar to Alfia.

Lily was the last one that entered the house. She wore the coat around her shoulders again, they didn´t waste much time with changing their clothes. All she wanted was to take a hot shower and fall into her bed for a few hours.

But Alfia wouldn´t let her off so easily.

Alfia let go of Bell, for now and turned to Lily.

"Liliruca..."

"Ms. Alfia?"

Alfia slowly went down to her knees, sobbed and looked at Lily´s tattered clothes, which were stained by her own blood...and Bell´s.

"You saved my son..."

"Lil-Mh!"

Lily couldn´t finish her sentence, Alfia didn´t let her. She pulled Lily close and hugged her, it wasn´t a gentle hug, but a desperate one.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Lily couldn´t fight back, not only because of Alfia´s strength, but because all strength left Lily´s body when she felt this warm, motherly hug. How long had Lily missed to be hugged like this. Lily slowly raised her small arms and tried her best to hug Alfia back, which was hard, due to the size difference...and well...Alfia´s rack.

So...warm...

"Lily jusht did what she had to do." It was a bit hard to understand Lily, due to the position of her face.

"Still, you saved the one that is the most precious to me. You saved my son´s life. I will remember this, forever. If you have one wish, name it."

There was one wish that came up in Lily.

Adopt Lily...please...

But she couldn´t say that. She really wished to have a true family again...even when it wasn´t related by blood.

"Can Lily think about it?"

"Of course."

And then Alfia did something that would steal Lily´s heart and increased the longing in her even more. Alfia smiled, a warm, motherly smile. What made this smile so "dangerous" and precious, was the fact that Alfia never smiled to anyone except Bell.

Alfia slowly wiped her eyes while she got back to her feet.

"You all did well, you really deserve this victory."

All of them looked relieved that it was over.

"Ms. Alfia, where is Miach?..."

"He went to the chamber of the gods when we saw that you won."

For some reason, Nahza had a strange look in her eyes when she looked at Alfia.

Alfia had a good guess what it was. "Don´t be worried, Nahza. I know that you can smell Miach´s scent on my body. Your god and lover was kind enough to hold and support me when I had to see...that... But please be at ease, I have no feelings towards him, nor will I ever have one. And except from putting his arm around my shoulders to support me, nothing happend. And this will be the only time that this will ever happen."

Nahza smiled slightly. "Thank you, Ms. Alfia."

Alfia said this out of two reasons, she wanted peace in Bell´s familia and to make sure that no one would ever think she would have romantic feelings for someone.

She looked at her son. "Bell, you should go and take a shower."

"But-"

"No, go before the others. You took the most damage, we have to be sure that you´re completely healed."

"Understood."

Alfia waited until Bell left the room and the bathroom door got locked.

And then...her expression went a bit stiff when her eyes wandered to a certain someone.

"Haruhime."

"Yes, lady Alfia?"

"You fought well."

"Thank you."

"But there's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"What would that be?"

"The fact that you gave my son such a lewd lap pillow."

"L-Lewd?"

"You had pulled down Bell´s pants. He lay there with spread legs, while that elf knelt directly in front of his crotch."

"W-We had to treat Bell! After that incident."

"And it was necessary for you to give him a lap pillow? You couldn´t use a jacket or even his pants to give him a pillow?"

"Auu...I´m sorry...I was so worried..."

"And then what you and that elf did, hugging him like this."

"We didn´t hug him! Ms. Lefiya just lost her balance."

"Hm..."

The air in the room became cold as ice when Haruhime didn´t shrink down. It was finally time to make something clear.

"I will not apologize for what we did!"

"Ho?"

Haruhime´s four tails rose and waved strongly behind her. She wasn´t really agitated, but maybe...excited? Her blood pounding in her ears, her breathing quickened and her hands twitched slightly, her heart pounding in her chest, Haruhime was extremely excited.

The only thing missing was that she bared her teeth and the animalistic gesture of challenge would be complete. Instead, however, Haruhime crouched down very slightly and laid her ears against her head. Not in a gesture of threat, but one of submission...or acknowledgment of Alfia's authority. It was easy to see that Haruhime's canines were still slightly elongated. The slight beastification lasted much longer this time than last time.

"I...I was really worried about Bell too!"

It was good that the shower was running, otherwise Bell would´ve heard them.

Alfia only raised an eyebrow.

"I was as worried as you were when you saw what happened to them. When the sword...the sword..."

Haruhime gulped heavily.

"I understand that Bell is an important friend for you. But don´t think you could feel what I felt when I saw this." Alfia´s expression darkened.

"I felt the same as you did!"

"How could you?"

"Because I love Bell!"

Silence followed.

Nahza decided to sneak out of the room for now. Lily didn´t really know what to do, but she also thought it would be better to leave the room. Lena...remained in the room.

A girl that was in love with Bell was about to face his overprotective Mom.

His very agitated, overprotective Mom.

His very agitated, overprotective, level seven Mom...

"You l-"

"Yes! I love Bell! From the bottom of my heart!"

Alfia blinked slowly, not saying anything. Haruhime´s breath went way too fast, now that it finally came out of her.

"Is that so?..."

"Yes it is."

"Hm..."

"And I will tell him that, soon!"

The temperature dropped a bit more.

"You want to take my son from me?"

"What? No! Bell is your son and will remain your son. *Huff* *Huff* *Huff* But I love him and before I confess, I would like to have your blessing! *Huff* *Huff* *Huff*"

"My...blessing?"

"Yes! That you agree! Please give me your blessing to date your son, Mother!"

Haruhime looked so determined, as if a magical fox was baring it´s fangs to challenge a dragoness. To take away her precious cub.

Alfia´s expression went blank.

Give me your blessing to date your son...

Give me...blessing to date...your son...

Give me...your son...

Give me your son! Mother!

In Alfia´s mind, Haruhime sentence changed more and more. She was seeing right through the cunning vixen, who had her eyes on the pure, baby bunny. And her knowledge was big enough to know what Haruhime meant with "Mother". In the far east, they called the mother of their beloved also mother.

"Not happening."

"Hauuuu..."

In just one second, Haruhime´s animalistic behaviour dropped and she was the usual frail girl again. The dragoness had stared down the fox, without even growling or baring her own fangs.

"Why?"

Haruhime whimpered.

"Bell is the most precious thing in the world for me, do you think I would agree just like that? Especially after you took his pants off yesterday?!"

"Auuuu..."

"I will only give my son to someone worthy."

"Th-Then I will proof it to you!"

Haruhime´s animalistic side came out again, Bell was very important to her. She wouldn´t back down on this.

"We will see."

Alfia didn´t have a problem with Haruhime, but it was about Bell... Every girl that wanted to get close in this way to him, had to get past her first.

After their talk just finished, the door to the bathroom opened and Bell came out.

"I am done, the next can go in. Oh, did I miss something?"

Lena raised her hand and ran to the bathroom. "I´m next!"

She was also the only one that didn´t move out of the room, Lena had to see the "fight" between Haruhime and Alfia.

"Nothing, sweety."

Alfia´s eyes wandered to Haruhime, whose canines strangely returned to normal right now.

"Everything is as it should be..."

Haruhime glanced to Alfia and her tails moved strongly for a moment. She would show Alfia that she was the perfect daughter-in-law!

.

.

Over the course of the day, it became clear that Alfia didn´t feel well at all. It wasn´t her illness, it was the shock she had received from watching the wargame. She got very clingy when it came to Bell. Alfia acted completely different from normal, she did all the things she normally only did when she was alone with Bell. Giving him a kiss on the cheek now and then, suddenly hug him, she even treated him as if he was a young boy again. It was a bit awkward for Nahza, Lily and Haruhime to see that and embarrassing for Bell.

But what the three women could understand, was when they saw how often tears streamed down Alfia´s cheeks. She just couldn´t calm down and had to hold Bell often.

Having to see that her son...her everything...nearly got killed...it broke something in her.

When early afternoon came, Miach finally returned form the hall of the gods.

And when he opened the door...

"Miach!"

Nahza half ran, half jumped into the arms of her god, her beloved.

"Nahza!"

He caught her and pulled her close, her tail wagged happy. To not see each other for almost three days, was hard for both.

"I missed you so much!"

"Me too, Nahza, me too."

Even when the others were watching, except for Bell, who got hugged by Alfia right now, and Alfia who only had eyes for her son, Miach took a moment to hug Nahza lovingly. At least they waited to kiss each other for a moment when they would be alone.

After he let go of Nahza, Miach smiled to his followers.

"I´m glad that you all have returned."

His eyes wandered to Bell, who managed to break free from Alfia for a moment. Miach went to Bell and put his hands on his shoulders.

"Bell, my pain can´t be compared to your mother´s, but my heart also broke when I saw what Apollo´s captain did to you. I am so glad that you are okay now."

"It was very unpleasant."

"That's probably quite an understatement."

Bell smiled wryly.

Miach went from Bell to Lily, knelt down and also put his hands on her shoulders.

"Lily, thank you. For all you did during the wargame. I can´t say how proud I am of you and I will forever be thankful that you saved Bell´s life."

Before Lily could answer, Miach hugged her gently. Lily couldn´t say anything, it felt just nice...like coming home. Having friends like Bell and Haruhime, getting along well with her captain and Lena, having a kind-of-mother-figure in Alfia...Lily was just happy.

Life isn´t so bad at all.

After that, Miach checked if Haruhime was really okay now, that her beastification had calmed down again. Out of consideration for Haruhime and Nahza, Miach only held Haruhime´s hands, instead of hugging her.

And Lena, she just raised her hand, waiting for Miach to do something special. The god chuckled, raised his hand and did what the gods called "giving a high five".

"You did well, Lena. And I am very sure that the young man you are interested in has seen you."

Lena´s eyes sparkled by his words.

"So everyone, please sit down. We have much to talk about."

All of Miach´s followers sat down, Bell next to Alfia, who could stop herself from hugging him, but took his hand.

The god cleared his throat.

"As Alfia told you, I went to the hall of the gods after it was clear that you won the wargame. There was a huge turmoil there and in the city. Many people cried and cursed me, since they bet on Apollo to win the game."

Miach couldn´t help but grin slightly.

"Serves them right for underestimating my children and being so mean to you all. There were a few people that cheered and thanked me, those that made the bet that we would win, especially Takemikazuchi. There was a lot of talking and cheering in the hall of the gods, but I will spare you most of it. Some were really surprised, some pleased, only one of them devasted, do you want to guess who?"

Nahza looked very pleased, the others smiled a bit, Lena laughed.

"So, to tell you what the outcome is. Apollo´s familia will disband and he has to leave Orario. I didn´t banish him forever, only for ten years. All familia members that want to go with him are allowed to do so, but everyone else is free to go where they want. In case you wonder why I didn´t banish him forever, this just isn´t in my nature and I hope he will use this chance to learn and change a bit. But this isn´t everything. All that belongs to Apollo is now transfered to our familia. Which means...his big Mansion, will become our new home."

Miach´s followers looked amazed at their god.

"A new home?"

"Isn´t this Mansion really big?"

"Like more than ten times of our old home?!"

"Woah...now that is something."

"Lily is really looking forward to such a big home!"

Miach smiled. "We will have to renovate it a bit. But tomorrow, we will move there."

"So you will all move out again." Alfia eyed the god, her eyes were pretty red.

"We will. Alfia I know that you didn´t intend to move in with Bell, so that he will be independent. But this Mansion is really, really big. I would like to invite you to come with us, you could the a part of the second or third floor. Like this you would have your own area, the Mansion is far too big for us to fill it."

"Hm."

Alfia looked at Bell, who returned her gaze. He didn´t want to be separated from her.

"Hm, alright. I will come with you."

Bell smiled when he heard her words.

Miach continued. "We won´t be the only ones moving in there."

All of them looked at Miach.

"I talked with Takemikazuchi, his home is pretty small, only a bit bigger like our old home was. Mikoto said she still is indebted with us, since you saved her life, Ouka´s and Chigusa´s. Takemikazuchi agrees with her. Since the Mansion is just too big, Take will move with his familia in. They will have their own area, which will be changed to look like their home, in the far eastern style. Mikoto still wants to help us and asked to join the party for the dungeon."

"Hm, this will help a lot to clean everything. With just us, it would be a giant waste." Nahza looked like she was in thoughts.

"Mikoto and the others will move in with us?" Haruhime looked really excited.

"They will, I thought this would also give you more chances to be around your friends."

Miach´s eyes wandered to Bell.

"And it would give the others a chance to learn more about the far east."

For some reason, Miach winked to Bell.

"So we and the Takemikazuchi familia, it should become lively."

"Oh and someone else will move in."

"And who, lord Miach?"

The god smiled. "Welf."

"Huh?!"

"Hephaistos asked me to take him in, she will kick him out of her home for now. She doesn´t want him to become a shut in or be all alone again. He shall spread his wings and stay with the party. As much as she told me, this is also his will."

Bell´s smiled widened. "That sounds great!"

"Hehe, I´m glad you like it. This will also allow us some changes. Mikoto can go with her familia into the dungeon or on a quest now and then, on other days she will come with you. Of course you are all free to go with the others too."

Miach winked to Haruhime at this point, then he looked at Nahza.

"Nahza, my dear."

"Yes?.."

"One of Takemikazuchi´s children isn´t really a fighter, but like you. She has a wide knowledge about far eastern herbs and other things. Maybe she could become your assistant?"

"Hm, that sounds interesting. I will have to talk to her first..."

"Of course."

"Hm." Alfia frowned.

"Alfia?"

"With so many young people under one roof, I guess it will be my job to make sure that they don´t go too wild."

Miach chuckled.

"Bell?"

"Lord Miach?"

"I have a special job for you tomorrow."

"What is it?"

"The others will take care of the move. But you, you will spend your Mom company for the day."

"Huh?" Bell blinked confused.

"You went through a lot in the wargame, use tomorrow to relax a bit."

Miach´s eyes told Bell more than his words, since Bell still held Alfia´s hand, he felt her shaking. With his sentence, he could mean both of them.

Alfia really wasn´t herself today, she would have nightmares for months, always seeing the moment in the mirror again and again...

"And tomorrow evening, we will go to the Benevolent Mistress and celebrate our victory, together with Mikoto, Welf and the Astrea familia."

"""""Ooooh!"""""

"I will guard the house then." Alfia´s face was a bit stiff.

The god nodded, then his face got really serious.

"Lena, Lily, Nahza, Haruhime, I want a promise from each one of you."

The four girls looked at him in confusion.

"I will also tell this Take and Mikoto. Bell already knows this, but whatever you do, never mention Alfia to a member of the Astrea familia. Refer to her as Bell´s mom or mother."

They were a bit confused, looking from Miach, to Alfia, to Bell and back to the god.

"I can´t tell you the reason, please ask that Alfia, in case she wants to tell you. Either way, please promise me to do that."

""""Yes.""""

"Thank you."

.

.

They used the rest of the day to relax. In his home, Welf had trouble to get Tsubaki away from him. She had won quite a lot of money due to the wargame and she wanted more details of the armors and Lily´s spear, if all went well. The Takemikazuchi familia had a small celebration on their own, Takemikazuchi told Mikoto how well she did and how proud he was, Mikoto beamed all over her face.

The only one that had trouble this evening, was Lefiya. Her familia welcomed her, but all too soon the teasing started. Mostly done by Alise, Lyra and Kaguya...so as usual. They all wanted to know how Lefiya got this mark on her neck.

"Tell us Lefi! Did Bell fall on you again? Did he kiss you?!"

"No! Of course he didn´t!"

"Buh..."

"Why are you looking disappointed, captain?!"

"Then how did you get this mark?"

Lefiya didn´t really want to talk about it, but as an elf she wouldn´t lie.

"Ms. Haruhime bit me in her sleep. You´ve seen her semi beastification, afterwards she told me that her teeth itch and she had to bite something."

"You let her bite you?!"

"Only a little bit... She looked like she was in pain."

"Ahm..." Neze raised her hand slightly.

"Ms. Neze?"

"Lefiya...you are aware what such a bite at the neck means?"

"Huh? Her teeth were just itching."

"Maybe, but for a beast person, be it wolf or fox, this is usually done to...well..."

"Hm?"

Astrea looked worried. "Please tell us, Neze."

"To mark...your mate..."

Everyone went silent. Lefiya at first looked shocked, then her face went blank...then it slowly turned red and she squealed. She got so embarrassed that she took shelter in Filvis´ hug.

Alise tilted her head slightly, tapping her chin. "Does that mean Haruhime claimed Lefi for herself?"

Neze slightly shook her head. "Haruhime is still young, she probably isn´t fully aware of her beasty nature. I heard a bit about her past, normally her mother would´ve explained this to her. Her body is maturing, that she gets beastification sometimes is normal."

"Did this happen to you too?"

The werewolf shrugged her shoulders. "Of course it did."

"Ooooooh! So that were the howls we heard from your room in the past?!"

Neze just nodded, only Astrea knew how much of a problem this time had been for Neze. The werewolf was starving, had drooled a lot, had an urge for meat, to chew on something. In her endless kindness, Astrea went to Neze´s room in these nights and let her nibble on her forearm a bit. She never told anyone about this, Neze would never forget that her goddess did this for her, that she kept her company. Other animal people would have different symptoms, depending on the race.

"Neze?"

"Lady Astrea?"

"Could you talk with Haruhime about this? Maybe she is confused about the change of her body."

"Only about the general things, I have no idea what this is about her tails."

"This is enough, thank you."

Lyra raised her hand. "We are forgetting the most important things here!"

Astrea turned her face to the prum. "Lyra?"

"I mean to talk about the moment when Bell knelt down in front of Lefi!"

Kaguya smirked. "And when she shoved her face between his legs!"

Lefiya squealed more, while Filvis put her arms around her little sister to protect her.

"If you don´t stop to tease her, I will hit you!"

"Oooooh, the big sister is baring her fangs."

Ryu tapped with her foot on the ground. "Lyra, Alise, Kaguya, this is enough."

Lyra shook her head. "Be quiet, Erolf."

"Erolf?"

"An elf that is too erotic for an usual elf. I mean your magic gave Bell such a tent... By Lefi´s hands."

"Nah!" Ryu´s face went dark from all the blood rushing into it.

They heard Lefiya squeal. "I can´t get married anymore..."

"Lyra, stop it now. Kaguya you too, and you too Alise. Don´t tease Ryu and Lefiya like that." The goddess looked a bit...mad. But only a little bit.

"Lady Astrea, your cheeks are red too."

"A-Anyway, let Lefiya relax. And I don´t want to hear any naughty questions tomorrow in the bar. Or I will tell Mia that you three volunteered to do some extra shifts without being paid."

"""Irgh..."""

Astrea knew how to keep her girls in check when they went a bit wild.

It didn't turn out to be a long evening for those who took part in the wargame. They were all tired and glad to be able to sleep in a real bed again. For the first time in a long while, Bell slept in the same bed as Alfia. She cried more than once that night. Alfia could only calm down by holding Bell in her arms and listening to his calm breathing in the night. She had to tell herself over and over that Bell was okay. The shock was really very deep.

.

.

"So, Bell, Alfia, have a nice day."

"Thank you, lord Miach."

Alfia just nodded.

Bell wore his usual clothes for his free time, Alfia a simple dress in blue, without showing any cleave or much skin at all. The dress had the same color as one of Meteria´s eyes, that was why it looked different from Alfia´s normal clothes.

"Mom, shall we go?"

Finally...finally Alfia´s expression cracked into a smile.

"Yes, Sweety."

The morning was quite nice, it was warm enough since summer was there. Both took the west main in the direction of the gate, they wanted to do something that they didn´t have in a long time. As usual, the gate got opened even before they arrived there and it was guarded by members of the Ganesha familia, some of them even wore masks, but these weren´t as big as the one of their god.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, citizen. Do you want to leave the city?"

"Yes, but not for long."

"Hm, you are the dragonboy of the Miach familia, right?"

"Yes."

The other guard smiled. "Oh! I saw you in the wargame! That was impressive!"

"Thank you."

The first guard spoke again. "Since you are an adventurer, you need permission from the guild to leave the city."

"Oh..."

Alfia made a step forward. "My son and I just want to take a walk around the city."

"Are you an adventurer too, Miss?"

"No, just a normal citizen."

"Hm...you are level two, correct?"

Bell nodded.

"Hm, if you were level one, you wouldn´t need permission and you are only going for a walk.. Ah, screw it, it shouldn´t be a problem."

"Thank you."

"Then have a nice day."

Bell and Alfia left through the gate and walked for a while, until they were around one hundred meters away from the walls, then they turned north.

After they left the street, an endless ocean of gras was beneath them.

"Mom, wait a moment."

"Hm?"

Bell crouched down, opened his boots, took of his socks and went barefoot.

"Hehe, the cool gras feels nice."

"Hm, not a bad idea."

"Wait, let me help you."

"Thank you, Sweety."

Bell crouched down again and opened Alfia´s shoes for her, soon she was barefoot too.

"Mmmmh, that really feels nice."

Both kept walking for a while and just enjoyed the morning.

"Bell, how are you feeling?"

"Good, nothing hurts, thanks to Lily and Ms. Lefiya."

"Good, that´s good." Alfia smiled a bit.

"Mom, I´m sorry for making you so worried."

"I knew that the day would come when you get hurt badly, but...it was just too much to see it."

Bell put his right hand on the spot where Hyakinthos´ sword ran through him, never before was something so painful. "It isn´t something that I want to experience again, trust me."

"And I pray you never have to do that again."

Bell smiled to her. "I will become stronger, I will do my best so that you never have to see this again."

Alfia leaned forward and touched Bell´s forehead with her own. "Thank you."

They continued to walk, after a while, Alfia started to hum softly. It was a melody that she often hummed or softly sung for Bell when he was a child.

"Hehe, that brings up memories."

Bell joined in and they hummed together. The longer they walked, the better Alfia seemed to be and the more relaxed she looked. They talked about the last months in Orario, about the time in the village and other things.

"Mom, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"What is it?"

"What are you doing mostly in the last weeks? You said no one should touch your stuff and that you will only let me help to carry it."

"Well it is obvious that I don´t want the others to touch my personal belongings. One of the things is Meteria´s picture and I will strike down anyone who dares to touch that."

The only person that was allowed to touch that picture was Bell.

"I mean the other things, you said you are quite busy."

"If you really want to know it, I will tell you, since I trust you."

She looked up to the sky for a moment, then she continued.

"I bought a lot of paper and make notes."

"About what?"

"The dungeon."

"Huh?"

"You know that there are official records that you can buy at the guild, but only until a certain floor. Since Loki´s children are the number one dungeon familia now...*Pfft*...they will have notes for deeper floors. Something like this is essencial. But even they don´t have notes about all of the Icy Hell and what comes behind that."

"The Icy Hell?"

"The 60th floor and the two after it."

"The 60th floor?! Wow...I can´t imagine how it will be down there. I mean...the way to the 18th floor was hard already."

"You know that the dungeon doesn't get linear harder, but that there are sometimes jumps forward, right?"

"Yes, like the difference between the upper and middle floors, the middle and deep floors."

"Exact. The 60th floor is such a difference, we called this area the "Upper Hell". It took Zeus´ boys and us to clear these floors."

"It is that dangerous down there?"

"Yes, the deeper you go, the more hellish it will become. Like the great desert, the tree labyrinth and other things."

"Wow, the dungeon really sounds like a magical place."

"It is, but most people wouldn´t call it magical."

"Okay, back to the notes you are making."

"I write down everything about the floors, from the 15th onwards. And I draw maps from my memory, which means they are perfect."

"But why from the 15th?"

"Because you will soon go there and my notes are much more detailed than the stuff you get at the guild. The official notes don´t even show the hidden hot spring."

"Hidden hot spring?"

"In one of the floors above the 18th, there is a wall that hides a hidden hot spring from the dungeon behind it. It is a really nice place to relax, but there are monsters there sometimes, with a small cave boss."

"Oh? Heh, I bet Ms. Mikoto would love to hear about this, she loves hot springs."

"No surprise when she is from the far east."

"Do you mind when I tell her?"

"She is in your party, if you clear this cave from the monsters and kill the small cave boss, you will have a nice, secret area to relax. Except from the monsters that are already inside, it is a safe zone."

Mikoto wouldn´t like or love this information, she would melt on the spot. A fire would ignite inside of her, she would demand them to go there and explore the hidden hot spring.

"A safe zone with monsters?"

"I don´t make the rules of the dungeon."

"Will you also write about the deep floors? Or the "Upper Hell?"

"When your party is that deep in the dungeon, yes. I will share all my knowledge with you."

"Thank you, Mom."

"Trust me, going into these floors without knowing what will come was beyond hard. I can´t count how often Zard saved me or I saved him."

"You had to be saved?"

"While my magic is strong, there were situation when I couldn´t use it. And even when I can hold myself against most monsters in the deep levels and even in the upper or middle hell, there are just some situation where even I needed help."

"Hehe, and uncle Zard watched over you?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I think he had a bit of a soft spot for me, he cared a lot for me when we met after...you know."

Secretely, Bell had a guess how hard it had been for Zard, Alfia was much different to other people than to him. And Zeus told him that Alfia was much different in the past, that Bell had made her soft.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Wouldn´t it be better to somehow sneak these informations into the guild, so that the Loki familia will have it easier?"

"I hate the Loki familia, as I told you."

"Yeah...but still. I mean, you, uncle Zard and lord Erebus d-"

"Pffft! Ahahaha!"

Alfia couldn´t help but laugh when Bell said "lord Erebus", it was somehow pretty funny.

"I mean even when you did some...questionable things...you did that to bring them forward."

"Say it out loud, we did evil things, we were evil, we had to be. Did it give us joy what we did? No. But compared to "him", the dark times were nothing. They wouldn´t understand what we did, why we did it. They never faced "him"... But to answer your question, it would be dangerous to sneak these informations into the guild, it would raise questions. They have to proof that they are worthy on their own, otherwise it would be meaningless."

"But you will give these informations to me? To my party?"

"Of course, you are my son. Even if things had been different, you would have gotten these informations anyway."

"But I need to proof that I am an worthy heir of the two familias."

Alfia stopped. "No, Bell. You are you. You are more than just the heir of our familias. You go your own way. While I admire your goal and will support you in any way, please never lose sight of your original goal. Your grandfather would tell you the same."

Bell smiled. "I will. There will be a few years anyway before we get down to this point, but I am happy that I get these informations from you. It means much more to me when it comes from you and not from the guild."

Alfia smiled and they slowly continued their way.

It took them over two hours to walk around Orario one time, they weren´t in a hurry.

.

.

After they returned through the west gate, both walked in the direction of the main plaza, until they passed a certain bar.

"Oh, it looks different in the morning."

Bell noticed that there were now tables in front of the Benevolent Mistress, it looked more like a cafe.

"Shall we eat something?"

"Mh, I would prefer a different cafe. We are coming here in the evening anyway."

"Then let us look for one."

They walked a bit further until they found a small cafe. As a gentleman, Bell pulled back the chair for Alfia.

She smiled slightly. "Thank you."

It took only a moment for the waitress to come.

"Welcome dear customers, here are our menus. If you are interested, we have a couple breakfa-"

The waitress froze when Alfia shot her an ice cold glare. "He is my son."

"O-Oh! I beg your pardon..."

It wouldn´t be the last time on this day that someone mistook them for a couple. Due to Alfia´s high level, she aged slower than normal people, because of that she still looked like she was in her early twenties, even when she was actually close to her 34th birthday. Which no one but Bell was allowed to know, and he was smart enough to not mention her age.

The breakfast was pretty good, but for Bell it wasn´t as good as Alfia´s homecooking. The only food he tasted that had a slight chance of coming close, was Haruhime´s. But this was probably because Bell was in love with her.

After they had breakfast, they went to their next destination, it was a small shop.

"What kind of shop is this? I have never seen it before."

"It is an elven shop, they sell various things here, made by elves."

"Oh!"

Bell was really excited to see what was inside, to learn more about elves, mostly because of Lefiya. He opened the door for Alfia and closed it behind him when they were inside.

"Good day."

"Good day, Miss. It is nice to see you again."

Alfia nodded, while Bell looked around fascinated.

"Is this your first time in an elven shop, young man?"

"Yes...it looks fascinating."

"If you have questions, just say something." The shopkeeper smiled gently.

Most elves wouldn´t be so friendly when they met someone for the first time, but he wanted to sell things, so it was natural that he was different. Alfia already knew what she wanted to buy, various ingredients for food. She got quite fond of elven cuisine, not only because Bell liked it, the taste was nice.

Alfia was sure, Meteria would´ve loved to taste elfish cuisine.

"Ahm, what are these?"

The shop owner walked over to Bell. "Scented candles. I used a few special herbs in them, so that they would give of a smell that you think you are in a forest."

"And the names? Ry-Ryumilua. Wishe. Royal."

"These are some of the elven forests. The elves that live in Orario would have to travel for a long time to get home. Like this they have a chance to smell something familiar."

"Wow, that was really nice to produce something like that."

The name Wishe rang in Bell, he had heard this name before. Something that Alise said, something about Lefiya. That was why Bell rememberred the name.

Is this her home forest?

Bell decided to buy one, he wanted to learn more about the girl that he had a crush on. There were other things in this shop, special ear muffs. There were also elven hair ornaments of all kinds. From small clasps, fine bracelets, elegant scarves and brooches made of wood and precious stones. However, what particularly attracted Bell's gaze were elongated feathers.

Two especially attracted Bell´s eyes.

"What are these feathers?"

"Hm, oh. You have a good eye, dear customer. These are phoenix feathers."

"Phoenix feathers?" Even when he was surprised, Bell had learned not to shout when an elf or an animal person was close by...or Alfia.

"Yes, the red one is from a normal phoenix. But the blue one, is from a frost phoenix."

"A frost phoenix? Aren´t they incredibly rare?"

"They are the oldest among all phoenixes, so see one is really something."

"And you sell the feather?"

"I thought about keeping them, but it will be better when someone buys them that understands what they mean. Before you ask, these feathers don´t have any magic in them. When a phoenix has just lost them, they carry a part of the magic in them, but it will run out in a matter of hours."

"Oh."

"Not like tears, phoenix tears are something else."

"Do you...have by chance...any phoenix tears here?"

The elf shook his head. "No, and in case I had, I wouldn´t sell them. And in case someone would sell them, you couldn´t pay that much money."

"How much are they worth?"

"Hm, I would say at least a billion Vals."

"Wha-!"

"So, are you interested in the feathers?"

"I have to say, very much."

"Are you aware of their meaning? In case you want to buy them as a gift?"

"I read about it, since phoenixes are nearly immortal, it has a meaning of undying love, be it for family or a loved one."

"I´m glad you know that, otherwise I wouldn´t sell them."

"How much do they cost?"

The elf told him the sum, it let Bell gulp, this would be most of his savings...and the gift from Alfia that he still had. Bell trusted something that Zeus told him in the past, don´t listen to your brain when it comes to love. Listen to your heart and your stomach.

Bell decided to follow his grandfather´s advice, he had an idea. Each of the phoenix feathers was placed in a special, oblong, flat, wooden box lined with velvet. But this wasn´t the only thing he bought.

Alfia was also finished and had a paper bag in her arms, filled with various ingredients.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I want to give you something."

"Oh?"

Bell held up a green hairband, the color was close to one of Alfia´s eyes.

"I thought when you want to bind up your hair, when you cook or something else."

"Oh, this is really nice of you, Bell. Thank you."

While she wouldn´t kiss his forehead in front of an elf, Alfia turned around and let Bell bind her hair up into a ponytail.

"It really suits you."

"Thank you. And what is the other thing that you bought?"

"Ahm..th-that´s a secret."

"Hm." Alfia wouldn´t ask further what it was, she respected Bell´s privacy.

"So, shall we go?"

"Okay."

In the moment that Bell wanted to open the door, it got opened from the outside and he heard a familiar voice.

"I hope they still have th-Bell Cranel?!"

"Oh, M-Ms. Lefiya, g-good day."

Lefiya was as surprised as he was, but in contrast to her, Bell got a bright red face. Seeing her after just buying the two feathers was just too early.

And there was someone behind Lefiya, someone with black hair.

"Lefi-You!"

Filvis looked immediatelly agitated when she saw Bell and moved in front of Lefiya to protect her.

"Y-You! You! Filthy human! Pervert!"

"Eh?!" Bell made a step back.

"Filvis, don´t, it was an accident."

"And accident?! Something like that isn´t an accident!"

Before Bell could answer, a presence from behind him came forward.

"Is there a problem here?"

At first Filvis wanted to say or yell something, but her words died out when Alfia stopped next to Bell. Since she had fine senses, Filvis was immediately intimidated.

"Oh, it is you." Lefiya reacted in a different way to Alfia.

"Young lady, so we meet again."

"Yes." For some reason, Lefiya smiled.

"Eh, do you know Ms. Lefiya?"

"I´ve met her before, she was the one that showed me where this store is."

"Oh."

"Bell Cranel, why do you know her?"

Instead of Bell, it was Alfia who answered. "I am his mother."

Lefiya´s mouth opened in immense surprise. "His mother?!"

"Yes."

"O...Oooh! Now that you say it, you look alike."

"Obviously."

"S-So, then it is...Ms. Cranel, I guess?"

"Yes it is, Ms. Viridis."

Alfia´s eyes wandered to Filvis, who now hid behind her little sister. "And who is this young lady?"

"Filvis, my big sister."

Filvis didn´t dare to say anything.

"But it is good that I meet you here."

"Why that?"

Alfia´s expression darkened. "So that you can explain to me what I had to see when you...healed...my son."

It took Lefiya one second to understand the situation...and the danger she could be in, since Alfia was probably a very agitated mother right now.

Twenty minutes were necessary to explain everything to Alfia, that this really had been an accident. During that time, Filvis also understood this.

As Zeus said more than one time, Alfia was a cheat to the world. She wouldn´t allow that such a misunderstanding remained, just because the people didn´t talk with each other. If she weren´t there, Filvis would probably keep her bad opinion of Bell. And while Alfia wasn´t happy what had happened to Bell, how he landed between Haruhime and Lefiya, she understood that Lefiya didn´t mean to do this.

.

.

After they wished them goodbye, Bell and Alfia spent most of the day in the city. Walked around, shopped for clothes and sat down in the late afternoon on a hill in the part of the city that was abandoned.

When they came home, everything was ready for the move, but they would only do it in the morning of the next day.

While Alfia would stay home, feeling much better than before, Bell and the others would go to the Benevolent Mistress.

To celebrate their victory with Welf, Mikoto and the Astrea familia.

And in the pub, Bell would hear about a visitor that came to the house today.

.